The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, has unveiled fresh regulatory strategies aimed at strengthening the nation’s telecommunications sector, improving service quality, and fostering greater competition.
Dr. Maida made the disclosure on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, during an interactive session with editors and media executives in Lagos. The meeting, held at The Colossus, Sheraton Link Road, featured top NCC management and key media stakeholders.
In her opening remarks, the Head of Public Affairs, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, described the gathering as a “family reunion,” stressing the media’s central role in interpreting and communicating regulatory policies.
Dr. Maida, who acknowledged recent leadership changes at the Commission, said the federal government had given strong support to enable the NCC deliver on its mandate. While admitting to challenges, he said ongoing macroeconomic reforms were laying the foundation for renewed investment confidence.
“We are making decisions that may seem disruptive at first, but our goal is to create a fair, competitive environment where resources — financial, technical, and human — are used efficiently,” he stated.
He announced a shift from the traditional “command-and-control” regulatory model to a more transparent, collaborative framework. Citing the recent SIM-NIN linkage exercise, which showed one operator controlling over 50 percent of the market, he warned that such concentration could undermine competition and consumer choice.
The NCC, he said, will begin publishing more industry data, including subscriber statistics, performance ratings, and quality of service (QoS) metrics, to empower consumers and hold operators accountable. Updated QoS guidelines now cover all stakeholders in the service delivery chain.
On consumer complaints, he identified three key concerns—poor service quality, data depletion, and failed airtime top-ups—and outlined ongoing regulatory interventions to address them.
Dr. Maida also highlighted Project Bridge, a federal initiative to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables nationwide, complementing existing 35,000 kilometres. He said the rollout would be private-sector led, under a regulatory framework that discourages monopolies and promotes competition.
He further disclosed that the NCC has intensified efforts against illegal GSM signal boosters, noting that over 300 had been removed in Abuja alone, resulting in improved network performance.
The session featured a lively Q&A with journalists, who raised issues on call failures, broadband rollout, and sector investments. Dr. Maida assured that the Commission would continue to crowdsource data to identify problem areas, while ensuring transparency and accountability.
Closing the session, Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr. Sunday Abraham Oshadami, thanked the media for their engagement, describing them as “critical partners in building a stronger, more reliable telecoms sector.”
The event ended with a group photograph and informal networking.
